
Class _2lA5J_5. 
Book ,i<41 > Lt- 



Copiglitl^?. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIK 



LOVE, FAITH AND 
ENDEAVOR 



r 






L- 



LOVE, FAITH 

AND 

ENDEAVOR 

By 
Harvey Carson Grumbine 




Boston: Sherman, French 
and Company : mdccccix 



..'*^.! 



Copyright, 1909 
Sherman, French &» Company 



75 3^13 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDics Reeeived 

juN 10 m^ 

Copyngnt £ntrv . 



A XXc. No, 



TO MY FATHER 

WHATEVER IS WORTHY IN THESE VERSES 

IS AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 



Acknowledgment is gratefully made of per- 
mission to reprint in this book certain poems 
which have appeared in The Outlook, Put- 
nam s Magazine, The Bohejnian, The Gray 
Goose, and The Pennsylvania Gerinan. 



CONTENTS 



OF LOVE 


Page 


Two Little Shoeses with their Neck-ties On 3 


To Celia 


6 


Sunshine and Shadow 


7 


The Trysting Place 


9 


Love's Awakening 


II 


The Swedish Maid 


12 


Pastourelle 


15 


In the Clover 


16 


OF EXILE 




The Rain 


21 


Homesick 


23 


OF NATURE 




Crocuses and Violets 


27 


Treasure-trove 


28 


May 


29 


A Garden Idyl 


30 


June 


31 


December 


32 


On Seeing a Crocus and a Dandelion in 


January 


33 


The Passing of Winter 


34 


Safe 


35 


The Century Oak 


36 


Paradise Sweet 


37 


My Garden 


38 


OF THE STUDY 




To a Scholar 


41 


To a Teacher 


42 


To My Arm-chair 


43 



OF FAITH AND ENDEAVOR 



Page 



For the Long Journey 47 

A Home at Last 48 

To Sleep 49 

Death 50 

The Lamp of Life 51 

P'ellinore 52 

Finding God 53 

Canaan 54 

Across the Void of Night 55 

Day of Prayer for Colleges 56 

Sweet Chapel Hour 58 

The Ivy and the Elms 59 

Pro Christo et Liter is 61 

Omnia Vincit Veritas 63 

Equanimity 65 

The Susquehanna 66 

Night 67 

Oblivion 68 

Jubilee Ode 69 

Flag Song 74 

Fruition 75 

For Life 76 



OF 
LOVE 



TWO LITTLE SHOESES WITH THEIR 
NECKTIES ON 

THERE are two little fairy feet in a place not 
far away 
That came a-pattering up to me and said to me 
one day: 
"My papa said 'e would. 
If I'd be real good. 
Buy me the nicest pair o' shoeses 'at choo ever 

sawn, 
A pair o' 'ittle shoeses 'ith their neckties on." 

Those shoeses they be slippers and those slip- 
pers they be new; 
I think they are just stunning, — ^yes I dooses, so 
I do: 
And so would you, suppose 
You saw their little bows. 
My tough old prosy head and heart are both 

completely won 
All by those little shoeses with their neckties on ! 

Now tripping up and down the hall and skip- 
ping up the stair. 
Quite radiant in their fleet delight there scintil- 
late a pair 
Of scampering little feet. 
So nimble and petite 
That on my word and honor it is jolly, jolly fun 
To see those little shoeses with their neckties on. 



The sunbeams of the dawning and the star-light 
of the night 

They cannot twinkle brighter than those little 
beams of light — 
Those merry little feet, 
So tireless and so fleet, 

A-running hither, thither, just as fast as they can 
run — 

Those darling little shoeses with their neck- 
ties on. 

Ah, here around the corner now they come a-pit- 
ter-patter — 

Oh! What a merry, joyous, careless romp and 
jump and clatter! 
1*11 just pretend to hide 
Behind this curtain wide — 

When — boo! — they dash and scamper — in a mo- 
ment they are gone — 

Those laughing little shoeses with their neck- 
ties on. 

And when I see them scooting with uproarious 
hullabaloo, 

I fancy me a child again to romp and scamper 
too; 
I wager I can beat 
Those nimble little feet; — 

Stop, wait! O dear! My breath! I'm beat! 
I'm shamefully outdone 

By those cunning little shoeses with their neck- 
ties on! 



A joyous burst of laughter and a tossing of the 

curls, 
A parting of two rosy lips, a gleaming as of 
pearls : 
"Say, Mister, Mister Man, 
Come catch me if you can! — " 
'Twould be enough to melt to love the heart of 

any stone 
To see those shoeses caper with their neck- 
ties on. 

And that's the reason why that I, though you 

would scarce suppose 
That I am much a ladies' man, am going to 
propose : 
I'm going to propose 
To catch those little toes 
That trip and clatter on the stairs and out upon 

the lawn. 
And hug me close those shoeses with their neck- 
ties on. 



TO CELIA 

O PRETTY Celia, give me chance 
To catch your casual smile and glance 
As there, across the way, you stand 
Three stories from the solid land 
Within the window. 

I grudge the curtain's floating lace 
Its touch upon your winsome face. 
And would, a spirit, I might hide 
Behind the drapery by your side 
Within the window. 

The zephyr that, to you unknown, 
Is irom the azure spaces blown, 
I would, I would I were, I vow. 
To kiss the ringlet on your brow 
Within the window. 

But ah, alack ! my wayward thought 
Avails me little, avails me naught, 
Although my eyes are resting still 
Where erst you were beside the sill 
Within the window. 



SUNSHINE AND SHADOW 

IT seems so long, Dear One, until the day, 
When we shall meet again and ne'er to part, 
I scarce can bide the time, but strive to stay 
The pulsing flood of joy within my heart. 

The sunshine comes. 

The sunshine goes. 
The shadow falls. 

The bleak wind blows. 

It seems so long, so long, Sweet One, and drear; 

The day to crown our hopes with garlands 
white 
Is so far in the future, yet so near 

I fear me Fate will trick us out of spite. 

The sunshine comes. 

The sunshine goes, 
The shadow falls. 

The bleak wind blows. 

The days, the weeks in ponderous cycles pass. 
Rolling a lumbering roundel of slow moons; 

What dule and teen since last we met ! My Lass, 
My hope, unfed, with hunger droops and 
swoons. 

The sunshine comes. 

The sunshine goes. 
The shadow falls. 

The bleak wind blows. 



But, sun or shadow, sun and shadow still 
Must ever mark the varying scroll of time; 

Of shadow less, of sunshine more shall fill 
Our common walk as in Arcadia's clime. 

The sunshine comes, 

The sunshine goes, 
The shadow falls, 

The bleak wind blows. 



THE TRYSTING PLACE 

OF an evening by the river 
When the sun is in the West, 
And the apple blossoms quiver, 

By the toying winds caressed; 
When the hills are bright with flowers 
And the fields are gay with bloom, 
Don't you deem it fun to linger 

Till the shadows turn to gloom? 
Ah, true, I do! 
But tell me, do not you? 

When the cares of day are over 

And its lessons all are said. 
Don't you like to play the rover. 

Just by aimless fancy led 
Where ten myriad myriad bluets 

Nod approvingly their heads? 
Don't you deem it fun to loiter 

Where the Maybirds make their beds? 
I trow I know! 
But tell me, is it so? 

By the Susquehanna's border 

Past the dogwood in the dells. 
Where the blue hills, ranged in order 

Like so many sentinels. 
Guard the village in the valley 

Nestled close about their feet. 
Don't you deem it fun to dally 

There because — ^well, just to meet — 
We two! Don't you, 
Pray tell me, think so too? 



Trudging up a leafy by-way 

With an epic of old time, 
Turning from the noisy highway 

With its moil and toil and grime, 
Giving dull old Care the go-by, 

And, to while the hours away. 
Just pretending to be reading — 

In the bonnie month of May? 
Why, yes! So O gueSs! 
But do you acquiesce? 



10 



LOVE'S AWAKENING 

THE rain beat drear on the window-pane 
In the sough of the wind full mournful; 
I sighed to think my sighs were vain 

And the looks of my Love full scornful. 
Is she a wicked coquette? Ah me, 
The mask of her lovely seeming 
With embers of piquant diablerie 
Aglow 'neath her eyelids' dreaming! 

The rain beat loud on the window-pane, 

The blast screamed shrill in its ire; 
The tortured heart of me was fain 

To break with its fevered fire. — 
And yet the rain hath wept enow, 

The tempest spent its plaining: 
Bright dawn hath risen to kiss Love's brow 

And flout her wicked feigning. 



II 



THE SWEDISH MAID 

The wearing apparel and other personal property be- 
longing to the late Miss Jennie Johnson will be sold at 
auction this evening. The above announcement completes 
the finishing chapter of a most romantic and interesting 
story. The heroine was a young girl of scarcely twenty 
years. A year ago she was living happily with her parents 
in her Swedish home with bright prospects for the future. 
She had a lover and he went to America to make a home 
for the girl behind him. After being there for a few 
months, he wrote in glowing terms of the new country in 
which he was, and sent for her to come that they might 
be married. She came, but alas! her lover had proved 
faithless. He refused to marry her. Here she was alone 
with no friends to shelter her. Thrown upon her own 
resources, she undertook to support herself; but, being un- 
accustomed to work and almost heart-broken, she soon be- 
gan to decline and finally died. Her clothes are to be sold 
to pay for the expense incurred upon her sickness and 
burial. — Middletown (Conn.) Herald, 



^' TVyT Y love is away in the far-off land 
^^ O'er the ocean's waters, waste and wide ; 

And here I, lonely and love-lorn, stand 

Who have promised to be his wedded bride. 

"The cold moon shines on me, alone, 

And the stars bum dim for me in the sky; 

My song is tuned to a lifeless moan 
And the light is dead in my faded eye. 

"O I must, I will, be near him again 
And nestle me close to his stalwart side ; 

I'll hasten my flight o'er the trackless main 
With love for my hope and God for my guide. 



12 



"I'll say good-bye to my native hills, 
To my Swedish home where my parents dwell ; 

For the hope to see him is one that thrills 
Me through and through, too deep to tell ! 

" I'm off o'er the bright blue ocean's waste, 
I'm off and away to his manly breast ; 

O speed, good ship! O haste thee, haste! 
Away to the love-land far in the West ! 

"He builded a cot, he says, on the shore 
Where Connecticut's waters roll to the sea; 

And there we'll gather our thrifty store — 
I will live for him and he for me. 

"This fair-famed country over the sea 
Is rich in joy and goods and gold — 

The land of the strong and brave and free; 
And his love, he writes, shall ne'er grow old." 



At length an end to the dreary sail. 
An end to her search in the "land of gold" ; 

But pity her broken and anguished wail 

When she found him false and his love grown 
cold. 

A year's slow moons have rolled around. 
And the hand of death hath laid her low 

In an inland town, 'neath a simple mound. 
Where Connecticut's murmuring waters flow. 



13 



But the brand of Cain be stamped on the face 
Of the traitor wretch that dealt this blow 

At the fair Swede maid of simple grace 

Whose sorrows are mute 'neath the sod and 
snow. 



14 



PASTOURELLE 
(From Paul Heyse) 

WHEN branch and bush melodious ring, 
(Teerewit, cuckoo, teerelee!) 
When robins from the alders sing, 

(Teeyo, teeyo, tseekee, tseekee!) 
Whoever then will pine and sigh, 
He is a lout, God pity him; 
The throstle singeth "Pity him"; 
The jay, he shrilleth scornfully, 
"Hehee, teerewit, tseekee!" 

One morn I chanced the wood along, 

(Teerewit, cuckoo, teerelee!) 
There sat a maiden blithe in song, 

(Teeyo, teeyo, tseekee, tseekee!) 
I said to her, "Sweet shepherdess, 
I love thee with all tenderness." 
Quoth she, "Thou simple suitor bold, 
Canst warm me in the winter's cold?" 
The throstle whistled mockingly, 

"Hehee, teerewit, tseekee!" 

I called upon a priest one day! 

(Teerewit, cuckoo, teerelee!) 
**0 help me, holy man, I pray." 

(Teeyo, teeyo, tseekee, tseekee!) 
"God pity thee, my lad," he said. 
"Go quickly, bring the silly maid; 
My blessing keepeth snug and warm. 
Year in, year out, from ill and harm 
The pair that singeth blithe and free, 

* Praise God, — teerewit, tseekee !' " 



15 



IN THE CLOVER 



SWEET clover, 
In the breeze 
Thy lover, 

The bee, 
Doth hover thee over. 
Merrily buzzing whither he please; 
With a zum-zum drone 
Comes he 
Alone ; 
For a kiss 
Hums he — 
But one — 
And wilt thou refuse him this? 

He is gone. 

Sweet clover! 
When will such another 

Bold rover 
For kissing thee 

Come, 
And missing thee. 
Hum 
Away the far field over! — 
Thy lover 
No more, but gone! 



i6 



See, again he comes 
Through the heat; 
For thy sweet 
He hums 
With freight of gold— 

Honey-dust ! 
O yield the fate of old 
Thou must; — 
Thy dower 
To his power 
Entrust! 



17 



II 

Sweet maids 
In the clover, 
Lift your heads, 
Give over! 
Hear Ariel: 
"Where the bee sucks merrily, 
There suck I;" 
And dare he all 
This 
But to miss? 

Beware ye all ! — 
Some chance hour 
In his power 

He'll snare ye all 
For the bliss 
That surely, surely, is his! 



i8 



OF 
EXILE 



THE RAIN 

THE sing-song of the dripping rain. 
The dull gray sky o'erhead, 
They lull in me the restless pain 

With which my soul is fed ; 
I think of the time when, but a boy, 

'Neath the attic roof I lay 
In my father's house, and my boyish joy 
As I heard the rain's soft play 
Lives in me yet to-day. 

The cottage by the green hillside. 

The church by the wood hard by, 

The room where my sainted mother died — 
Where I should like to die — 

They live again in the sad refrain 

And the dull drip-drop of the steady rain. 

The garden where the hammock swung 

In the shade of a spreading tree, 
The tunes that my sister played and sung — 

They all come back to me. 
The village school and the blacksmith shop 

With its bursting sparks of gold. 
The robin in the apple-tree top — 

All this, and more untold. 

The dripping drops unfold. 



21 



The mulberry tree that I used to climb 
And rob of its luscious store — 

O wind, O sea, bear me back to the clime 
Where my home-sick fancies soar! 

O wind, O sea, bear me back, I pray. 

To the attic where a child I lay. 

And I again a boy would be, 

A boy with his bold day-dreams. 

Who sailed away o*er the enchanted sea 
Where a radiant beacon beams. 
• •••••.«* 

The beacon is out and the dreams are o'er. 

And hope is faded and sear; 
But my faint heart yearns for the scenes of yore 

Which the musical rain's soft cheer 

Recalls to my eye and ear. 



22 



HOME-SICK 

AWAY from home in a dreary land 
Where men are cold with a freezing pride. 
Where fists are hard as Ishmael's hand 
And quick to strike, but slow to guide; — 

I look to catch a brother's eye 

That he may see my loss, my aim, 

My weakness, and, in sympathy. 
Pronounce the word of cheer or blame. 

But I look, I hope, I wait in vain; 

The mad wind snarls on the snowy street. 
Hurling his hate on the window-pane 

With mocking gibes in swirls of sleet. 

And, heavy with an unnamed grief, 

I think of death without despair. 
What matter? I must find relief! — 

But, hark! A step upon the stair. 

A knock. The door swings open wide. 

There enters One with gracious mien. 
He seats Him by my lone fireside, — 

'Tis Christ, the lowly Nazarene! 

Though his face is strange, I know it well; 

'Tis that which in my dreams has shone — 
A look of passion none can tell, 

And love to make the wide world one. 



23 



Softer than oil the words He spoke, 
Yet drawn swords to my naked breast; 

"O take upon your neck my yoke, 
Brother, and I will give you rest." 



24 



OF NATURE 



CROCUSES AND VIOLETS 

CROCUSES and violets, 
How bright and fair ye bloom to-day! 
For you I tune my triolets, 
Crocuses and violets, 
And let others sigh regrets 

For that June's so far away; 
Crocuses and violets. 

How bright and fair ye bloom to-day! 

Vanguard of the hosts of flowers. 
Trumpeters of conquering joys. 

Blaze the way for soother hours, 

Vanguard of the hosts of flowers! 

Blessings for your balmy dowers 
Now that sleety winter cloys. 

Vanguard of the hosts of flowers. 
Trumpeters of conquering joys! 



27 



TREASURE-TROVE 

DOTTING the edge of the country road 
Near where the farmer his harvest sowed, 
There bloom in all their shining array 
The dainty Fivefingers, resplendent and gay. 

Clustering close in a worm-fence nook. 
Out of their emerald covert they look 
And spangle the green of the velvety grass. 
Nodding their heads to the people who pass. 

They are the bravest flowers of May, 
For, vaunting their wealth in a debonair way, 
High in their spreading hands they hold 
Their lavish treasure of jewels and gold. 

All along where the roadways run 
They bow to th* imperial orb of the sun. 
And fill their cups with the dews and the 

showers 
To drink a health to the passing hours. 



28 



MAY 

SWEET month of May, the loveliest of the 
year! 

When all the world, arrayed in garb of green. 
Smiles like a comely girl; when far and near, 

On hill-top and in valley, there is seen 
In all its grandeur the handiwork of God: 
The leafy trees, the bursting buds, the sod 

Up-sprouting with blue violets atween 

The blades of springing- grass ; in modest mien 
Anemones hold up their heads and nod 
To stirring winds, and mark the place where trod 

Erstwhile the foot of April wet and gray. 

O hail, and hail again, sweet month of May! 



29 



A GARDEN IDYL 

OCOME into the garden, Maud, 
O come, for it is May; 
The peach-tree is in blossom, Maud, 

The plum-tree too is gay; 
The apple-tree is putting forth 

Its buds of pink and white. 
And all around the garden shines 
A diamond burst of light. 

The pease are peeping through the earth 

To view the life around. 
The onions are four fingers tall 

Above the mouldered ground; 
The lettuce spreads its crinkled hands 

To catch the dewy air. 
And the radishes are certainly 

Attesting they are there. 

O come into the garden, Maud, 

O come, for it is May, 
And look upon the tuber just 

Up-shooting through the clay; 
The bean-stalk too is taking root. 

The corn is up in rows, 
And Mother Earth is putting on 

A brand-new suit of clothes. 



30 



o 



JUNE 

iUT on the hills, 

Away from the throng, 
Where the fountain spills 
And the days are long, 
There let me linger and learn to forget 
The city's mordant hurry and fret, 
For it is June. 

Give me a line 

And hand me a hook. 
And let me recline 
In a leafy nook. 
Close to the edge of the lucid stream; 
There let me dally and angle and dream. 
For it is June. 

Adown the glade 

Where the daisies grow. 
In the midst of the shade 

Where the buttercups blow — 
O there I must hie me and make me a home 
And heal mine eyes in the pool of Siloam. 



31 



DECEMBER 

HIGH like skeletons grim 
The trees hold up their arms; 
The last leaf's hurried from its limb 

By the tempest's wild alarms; 
The river ripples gray and cold, 
And autumn's o'er like a story told. 

Deep in the lonely wood 

The leaves lie thickly strown; 

The timorous rabbit finds him food, 
The snow-bird seeks his own; 

The cricket long has ceased his song, 

For the breath of winter's cold and strong. 

Close to the level plain 

The snow clings like a sheet; 

The chimney moans as if in pain. 
Lashed by the hissing sleet; 

And all good men are glad to be 

Where the Yule-log sparkles merrily. 



32 



ON SEEING A CROCUS AND A 
DANDELION IN JANUARY 

THE weary watcher at the window stands 
With moaning heart all dolorous and for- 
lorn; 
"Ah, when will break the lilac-scented morn? 
When will these icy fetters burst their bands?" 
The weary watcher wrings his pleading hands: 
"And are my hopes of all fruition shorn — 
The sunnier smiles of May and April worn? 
Has winter frozen, then. Time's hour-glass 
sands?" 

Behold a crocus, in his eye a tear, 

Meek tribute to the season's sorrows old, 
And there a dandelion flaming bold: 
"We are the changelings of the yester-year. 
Strewn flowers fallen from his funeral bier; 
We too must pass into his grave grown cold." 



33 



THE PASSING OF WINTER 

LOCKED in a cold embrace 
Lies the silent river; 
Hither, thither, shadows chase. 
Dark and darker ever. 

Sharp the north-wind blows, 
Whistling 'round the corner; 

Drearily the day will close, 
Die without a mourner. 

All o'ercast the sky. 

Dun and bleak the wood; 

Let Old Winter quickly die 
For his sullen mood. 

Though the sky be dun, 

Though the day be drear. 

Well I know the Spring-time sun 
Will restore good cheer. 

Clouds again shall break, 
Days again be brighter; 

Vernal chords again shall wake. 
Heavy hearts grow lighter. 



34 



SAFE 



HOW the rain pours! 
The demon of night is loose! 
How the wind roars! 
With a swash and a swirl 
And a swish, 
The winds whirl 
And dash and splash, 
So you cannot choose 
But wish 
To be 
Comfortably 
Tucked snug and warm 
From harm 
By your fireside. 
Or in your trundle-bed. 

Then let the storm chide 

And blow! 

You can abide 

Its dread 

Roar. Go 

And be satisfied. 



35 



THE CENTURY OAK 

THE century oak, rugged and gaunt, 
Holds high to-day, as he was wont 
A hundred years ago, his head, 
Hoary with snows that have vanished. 
Defiant and grim to the wind's wild taunt. 

The hooting owl finds here a haunt. 
And feathered choristers now chaunt 

As when the century's dawn made red 
The century oak. 

No season's coil his heart can daunt; 

Ptocessive years their changes vaunt. 
But, constant till the line have fled 
And mouldered in oblivion's bed. 

He holds his own, rugged and gaunt, — 
The century oak. 



36 



PARADISE SWEET 

PARADISE Sweet, delicious fruit 
Vertumnus proffered in his suit 
Of her whose love he could not choose 
But win, or die if she refuse — 
Pomona, nymph of chaste repute. 

Though Pan might pipe his amorous lute 
And Cupid wing his darts to boot 
For him, she was not fain to lose 
Paradise Sweet. 

To all gods else ungracious, mute. 
She held it meet to spurn, confute 
Th' Olympian rout, save one whose dues 
Lay in a gift of regal hues, — 
Vertumnus, lord of Hybla fruit 
And Paradise Sweet.^ 

lA very toothsome apple. 



37 



MY GARDEN 

THE broad catalpa lifts his pleading palms; 
The maple burns his altar-candle red ; 
The golden-glow, by breath of Heaven fed, 
Bends to the breeze his reverent salaams. 
The humble-bee drones forth his pious psalms. 
Sweet chorister of peace and lowlihead; 
The pansy bows above his dewy bed 
Obeisance to the South-wind's censed balms. 

So may the air of Heaven take my soul 
And fan its latent love to eager flame; 

So may the sun of God's warm love incline 
My will to own the magic of His name ; 
So may each influence of His grace combine 
To lend my life to His divine control. 



38 



OF THE STUDY 



TO A SCHOLAR 

ENSCONC:&D here among these speaking 
tomes 
Of treasured wit caught from the mind of time. 
What pleasure to imagination comes, 
What wisdom from the wise when in their prime ; 
How sweet the days to learning consecrate, 
The evenings passed in study how sublime, — 
Ensconced here among your tomes, elate 
With largess brought from each Protean clime! 
Ensconced here a guest among the great 
And mighty of the vellum page and scroll, 
Cup-bearing eunuchs on your pleasure wait 
And embassies here parley with your soul; 
An emperor among these tomes, what fate 
Of mart and trade can stultify your state? 



41 



TO A TEACHER 

IF days be filled with pleasant ministries, 
Why shouldst thou pine for things thou hast 
not sought? 
If day and night be such that thou art brought 
But one step nigher the immortal skies ; 
If life emit a fragrance such as lies 
In scented herbs, why shouldst thou pine? No lot 
Could yield thee more, though every hour were 

fraught 
With argosies of pearls and purple dyes. 
Then why repine? The far-off interest 
Of years laid by in service of the least 
Of them that need thy help, to more shall grow; 
Like bread cast on the waters, to a feast 
Feeding a multitude ; then shalt thou know 
Thy fill of joys and say, "Aye, this was best!" 



42 



TO MY ARM-CHAIR 

DEAR, steadfast friend, capacious comforter, 
Mute minister of solace and of rest, 
Sweet soother for the highway's clash and stir. 
Swift Veillantif in dreamland's luring quest! 
To thee I hie me at the spring of night 
Obedient to thine eloquent behest 
To mount and spur away in airy flight. 
Then leap I to the saddle with new zest. 
Leaving behind the fret of dusty noon. 
Charging the bastions of the star-paved West 
To scale the summit of one golden boon: 
To browse on Academia's woody crest 
And amble to Castalia's murm'ring tune. 
On, on, my steed, beyond the dreaming moon! 



43 



OF FAITH 

AND ENDEAVOR 



FOR THE LONG JOURNEY 

WHEN I am ill, 
Place me near the window, Dear, 
That I may see the people in the street. 
Their kindly faces glowing 
With salutation meet 
To hearten me. 

When I am dead. 

Lay me by on the upland high 

That I may see the starry heavens near. 

Their kindly faces beaming 

With invitation clear 

To beckon me. 



47 



A HOME AT LAST 

YEA, I have builded me a dwelling-place — 
A lawn for summer evenings with a garden 
For spade and mattock; and for your soul's 

warden 
On long cold winter nights, a wide fire-place 
To toast your feet, "invite your soul" and trace 
The spirit's flight. Across the way fair Arden, 
Where Puck and Ariel trip the dewy sward on 
And Rosalind pursues her am'rous chase. 
Then fling the door wide open and let in 
The bidden guest, and bring the bread and wine ! 
Here wassail, drink-hail, till the rafters spin, 
Here twine us garlands of the hop and vine. 
All hail the joys that mem'ry bringeth in. 
Long life to those in future here shall shine! 



48 



TO SLEEP 

THE day is done, and, stalking through the 
town, 
Swarth night's abroad, clad in his sable vest. 
And burghers stout ensconced are at rest 
Upon their pillows lavendered, of down. 
Thus fortified, I scout the glooming frown 
Of sable night within my sun-bleached nest, 
And heal my beating temples on the breast 
Of sweet repose upon my couch of down. — 
Of sweet repose, the sweeter that dull care 
Hath heavy hung amid the heat of day; 
The sweeter now for that I strive and dare 
And hew and draw upon the dusty way 
At noon as when reveille thrills the air: 
Then haste thee, sleep, on me thy guerdon lay! 



49 



DEATH 

IN the dying year, when the ramping North- 
wind blows 
With hissing sough upon the ivy green, 
Striking deep wounds with frosty fang and keen, 
Rending the quick with fierce devouring snows, 
Not vauntingly the ivy and the rose. 
But welcoming with pale or blushing mien 
The dule of death, array them in the sheen 
Of holiday to hail a long repose. 

So, late or soon come God's ambassador. 
With trumpet flare, or swiftly unawares. 
Pray, let there be nor hurried step nor stir 
Of anxious fear; let music minister 
A gracious welcome — this no time for cares; 
Go, spread the feast and open wide the door. 



50 



THE LAMP OF LIFE 

THE pander, sated with a plenteous ease 
And drunken to his fill of pleasure's wine. 
With Circe's devotees transformed to swine. 
Too late shall cry to Heaven to appease 
Kis fevered thirst; but, panther-like, must seize. 
To rend with tooth and claw incarnadine, 
With angry greed and passion-flaming eyne. 
Blood-reeking innocence for lechery's fees. 

Then do not, friend, set too much store by sense. 
Nor nurse the flesh with overzealous care; 
The lamp of life, alight with prurient flare. 
Can only stench a beacon of offence; 
But trim the wick with lustral flame to burn 
That trooping years may pause and view and 
learn. 



51 



PELLINORE 

THE golden distances that fringe the morn 
Once flung a promise to the eager gaze 
0£ Pellinore the bold; and, with amaze, 
Ambition burgeoned like the flowering thorn 
For knightly quest. Anon there trilled, up- 
borne 
Above the ruddy boles of leafy ways, 
Hurtling a summons to adventurous frays. 
The tirra-lirra of King Arthur's horn. 
And, as it grew, filling the living air, 
Pellinore heard and drew his maiden blade. 
Riding apace with jingling spur and mail 
To win or die. For that his heart was fair 
His sturdy shoulders kissed in accolade 
Excalibur, his lips the Holy Grail. 



53 



FINDING GOD 

ORION, warder of yon star-strewn dome. 
The Pleiads laughing through their golden 
hair. 
The serried files of the Milky Way, and there 
The sentinel of the North, proclaim the home 
Of the living God. The glow-worm in the loam. 
The robin piping in the ruddy air 
Of April mornings, and the dewy hare 
Outrunning the mist wherever he doth roam, — 
These too His hand proclaim. His dwelling- 
place 
No eye can measure and no ear explore; 
But this I know, I feel it more and more: 
'Tis here and now, in these my feet and hands. 
My breath, my heart, and all the living face 
Of earth, and sky, and sea, and clouds, and lands. 



53 



CANAAN 

<< A ND they went forth to go to Canaan land, 
-^^ And to the land of Canaan they did come." 
Ah, happy pilgrims to a destined home 
Directed by Jehovah's guiding hand. 
What time ere that ye had your purpose planned 
How far had your unguided feet to roam? 
Was guidance always yours vouchsafed, the dome 
Of Heaven ever at your eyes' command? 
Thrice happy pilgrims ye whose sandaled feet 
Nor thorn nor bramble tangles nor leaves torn, 
Nor doubt nor siren lust nor hate nor scorn. 
Ere forth ye fare with dauntless courage meet, 
True to the compass of One Purpose sweet 
As music on the Bridegroom's nuptial morn. 



54 



ACROSS THE VOID OF NIGHT 

ACROSS the void of night 
Two points of yellow light 
Like eyes 
Look through the window-pane 
And gild the slowly falling rain. 

Across the void of doubt 
Two stars, once nearly out, 

Like flame 
Burst on my darkened faith 
And rout the brooding shades of death. 



ENVOY 



An if Sister Charity 
Abide by my fireside. 

Sweet Faith 
Is come to ope for me 
The doors of immortality. 



55 



DAY OF PRAYER FOR COLLEGES 

THIS day we lift our souls to God 
And plead His saving grace; 
We bow our wills to Jesu's rod, 

Our petty ills efface; 
In His warm bosom fold our hands 

And close our eyes to view 
Winged seraphs waving with their wands 
A welcome to far Canaan's strands;. 
We pray 
That they 
Our own dark hearts illumine will 
And make our wailing grief be still. 

This hour we cry our keen remorse 

For trespass of His will, 
For straying from His love-lit course 

To tangled paths of ill. 
Diseased in soul, attainted, weak. 

Through Christ's atoning grace 
Deliverance we humbly seek: 
The benison that crowns the meek 
This day 
We pray 
Our own rich heritage may be 
For earth and for eternity. 



56 



Attainted, foul, but stricken down 

With shame and penitence, 
Our trespasses we freely own. 
Our palsied impotence ; 
Though serpent-stung, temptation-lured. 
Through Christ's restoring touch 
Our smarting wounds shall yet be cured, 
The Prince of Darkness felled, immured. 
And we 
Through Thee, 
O Lord, shall feel our pulses heal 
And thrill with all God's wealth of weal. 



57 



SWEET CHAPEL HOUR 

A HYMN 

SWEET chapel hour, our cares we bring 
In penitence an offering 
Upon the altar of the Lord, 
Pleading the promise of His word. — 

The promise that, when two or three 
Are come to seek in company 
Fulfillment of their meek request. 
He giveth what is meet and best. 

Our cares, our cross aloft we hold 
For Him to fashion into gold — 
For Him to reckon for our tears 
The far-off interest of years. 

Our cares, our cross — ^what else beside 
Could satisfy the Crucified? 
What gold for Him without alloy, 
The Prince of Cares, the King of Joy? 

Sweet chapel hour, sweet chapel hour, 
Possess us with thy healing power! 
O take our burden for His love, 
His Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove! 



58 



THE IVY AND THE ELMS 

I 

THE ivy clings to the chapel wall 
Aspiring steadfastly 
To climb aloft to the belfry tall 

And know the mystery 
That swells afar from the peal of the bell 
Celestial history. 

As the ivy clings, cling feet and hands. 

Aspiring heavenward 
To mount aloft where Moses stands. 

Beholding there the Lord 
Unroll in a cloud of fire the scroll 

Of His everlasting word. 



59 



II 

The elms uprear their suppliant palms 

And leafy phylacteries 
To swing to the winds the odorous balms 

That from their censers rise — 
That spread abroad and float to the skies 

In votive ministries. 

As the elm-tree pleads, plead heart and tongue 

In measured voice and time ; 
Sing, soul, to the soul of Love a song 

Shall with His music chime — 
Shall bring from above the rush of His wing, 

The breath of His peace sublime. 



60 



PRO CHRISTO ET LITERIS ^ 

BE this our motto writ in flame, 
Pro Christo et Literis, 
Before our vision e'er the same, 

Pro Christo et Literis, 
On palimpsest and classic tome, 
On ivied wall, aspiring dome, 
On foreign shore, at shrine of home — 
Pro Christo et Literis. 

Be this our sword to win the fight, 

Pro Christo et Literis; 
Be this our beacon-fire by night. 

Pro Christo et Literis; 
Be this our pibroch in the fray. 
The sign of valiance for dismay. 
The trumpet-call to win the day- 
Pro Christo et Literis. 

Be this our comfort in distress. 

Pro Christo et Literis; 
Be this our prayer to cheer and bless. 

Pro Christo et Literis: — 
To Christ and Culture ever cleave, 
For God and Truth all things achieve. 
For Light and Love fight on believe- 
Pro Christo et Literis. 

1 The motto of the University of Wooster. 



6i 



For Thee we count all loss a gain, 

Pro Christo et Literis; 
With Thee we cure all grief and pain. 

Pro Christo et Literis ; 
With Thee we break dark Error's chain. 
With Thee we'll wake the world again, 
With Thee we'll shake her heart and brain — « 

Pro Christo et Literis. 

Then, comrades, rise and join the throng 

Pro Christo et Literis; — 
The saints who led to right the wrong 

Pro Christo et Literis; 
Come, lave your souls in bliss divine. 
Come, see the Lord in glory shine, 
Come, drink new valor at His shrine — 

Pro Christo et Literis. 



62 



OMNIA VINCIT VERITAS 

ART seeking for pelf or power of king 
In the hot raging battle on life's ringing 
plain? 
Art fighting for fame with a sword or a sling — 
Goliath or David — ^the victor or slain? 

Embossed on his shield the hero will 

wear 
This legend in letters refulgent and fair, 
Omnia vincit Veritas. 

Art lolling in palace of marble and granite, 

Bedecked with the splendors of Ormus and 

Jewry? 

Believe it, all these shall be counted but vanit- 

Y the day when the goats shall taste of 

God's fury. 

The glitter of rubies and diamonds and 

paste 
Shall pale in the flash of His winnowing 
blast : 
Omnia vincit Veritas. 

A shameless impostor may thrive for a day 

And prink bar-sinister with purple and er- 
mine — , 
The robe of fine purple will fall to decay, 

The ermine the prey of corruption and 
vermin. 
Yet this legend is proof to the moth and 

the rust, 
This legend embossed on the shield of 
the just — 
Omnia vincit Veritas. 



63 



The serpent of slander may coil on the tongue 

Of oily civility fluting its charms; 
Beware the false lyrics the Lorelei sung! 

Fling off the fell spell! Rouse! Haste thee 
to arms! 
Up, gird thee for battle and break the 

soft snare! 
Shout, shout the good pibroch upon the 
glad air — 
Omnia vincit Veritas. 

Green malice may hurtle a Parthian javelin 
And envy devise a pitfall for thy feet; 
Whatever the lot the weird Fates be unravelling. 
The truth will prevail when the story's com- 
plete ; 
The Truth ! Let it flame from the hand 

of the Lord 
As it flashed in the lightning of Sinai's 
word — 
Omnia vincit Veritas. 



64 



EQUANIMITY 

NO surcease needs the pulsing heart of man. 
No respite from its unremitting toil; 
Through light and gloom, from peace to fretting 

broil, 
It pours its tide since first its currents ran. 
And, though the years that life's brief firelight 

fan 
May prove it true and bring it lustrous spoil. 
Or play it false and yield dry husks of coil, 
It pulses on as when its life began. 

So let the Will her restless spirits train 
And hold in leash the hyen in the blood. 
Or prick the lagging genii of the brain 
And spur them to a fuller meed of good; 
Rule thou within, fair mistress of the free, 
O bride benign, hight Equanimity! 



65 



THE SUSQUEHANNA 

ALONG the river's widening shores 
The willows sway and bend 
And whisper to the wind; 
The boatman idly dips his oars 
Where lengthening shadows send 
Their long arms far behind. 
He sings, " My life be like this river 
That floweth calmly on forever. 

O blessedness serene 

That feels no wracking change 
Of passion or of woe; 
No transport rapt or keen, 
But love of simple range 

Blithe hearts need only know; 
Just as the placid river flows 
May all my days move to their close ! " 



66 



NIGHT 



WITHOUT I know the astral graces sweep 
In whirl diurnal to a stately tune 
Unheard of ear, but seen of eye — a Run- 
ic symphony around the skyey deep. 
Within all things dispose themselves to sleep : 
Hushed is the patient mother's soothing croon; 
And there upon the carpet loosely strewn 
The infant's mimic world, a ruined heap. 

We strive by faith; we droop in doubt; we scorn 
The darker ways; we earn our daily bread: 
Ulysses-like at morn we hail the wars; 
At noon sailing high-crested seas, — are borne 
At length to the westering sun uncomforted. — 
Within the scattered toys — without the stars. 



67 



OBLIVION 

II 

BEHOLD swarth Night, emerging from his 
lair 
In misty lowlands where the river creeps 
With slow meander to its destined deeps, 
Upgathered his pinions on the air; 
And, glooming through the casement on the 

stair. 
He frighteneth a child of Dawn, who weeps 
To see his fairy house of Day in heaps 
Of smudgy ruins, erst his palace fair: — 

His palace, with a turret hewn of blue. 

An aerie for his eyes to fly afar 

Above the hills, above the level plain. 

Above its market cries and din and jar. 

Its stress of battle and its throes of pain. 

Behold, swarth Night now summoneth his due! 



68 



JUBILEE ODE 

In commemoration of the half-million endowment cam- 
paign for the University of Wooster. 

^^/^ YEAR of joyous jubilee, 
^^ Wooster is free! 
From near and far 

And all the world around 
To the utmost star 

Let the happy news resound— 
'Wooster is free'! 

"Oh let the tidings run 

Merrily 'round the world, 
Swift as the fleeting sun, 

Bright on his shafts impearled— 
* Wooster is free'! 

"O tell it to her sons. 

Go, tell it to her daughters 

Beyond the farthest waters 
E'en where the Jordan runs! 
In the distant palmy isles 

Within the tropic seas; 

Beyond the Hebrides 
And Caucusus' defiles; 
In stupefied Cathay, 

In Hindustan and Ind; 
In every heathen way 

Where lies the fettered mind — 
Break forth, O Golden Day, 

And say 
'Wooster is free. 
Ye shall be free. 
And God shall reign to Eternity' ! 



69 



"From every hill shall rise 
His incense to the skies; 
His praises loud shall ring 
Where men and angels sing, 
*Wooster is free'! 

"His truth, like living light. 
Shall spread from pole to pole ; 
His choral anthems roll 
Beyond the bounds of sight. 
Lo, Light and Love with Honor, Truth- 

These blessed four, 
Children of immortal youth. 
Angelic spirits of the Lord, 

Shall multiply for evermore. 
Singing their Maker's word 
And calling forth to all the seas and lands, 
*In triumph, all ye people, clap your hands— 
Wooster is free* " ! 

This anthem benedight 
The organ of the soul 
Swelling, roll on roll. 
Discourses in delight. 

O listen with the inner ear 

And hear! 
O lift a loving eye and see 
The vision of our Deity — 
It is our jubilee! 
And offer up 
To Him our cup, 
Filled full and over-brimming 
With joys the Saints are hymning! 



70 



"Lo, Wooster is free! 
Love and Honor, Light and Truth, 
These four 
As of yore 
Shall run from shore to shore 
And gather in the youth 
To nurture them for liberty — 
For Wooster is free! 
Henceforth 
The sons and daughters of the North, 
The Golden West, the Homeland East„ 
Prisoners of hope released. 
Shall come in search 
Of Alma Mater — Mother Church — 
Shall go elate 

The loyal children of the Church and 
State! 
For WoQSter is free!" 



71 



O listen while again the choral throng 
Chant forth in numbers sanctified and strong 

"Yea, Wooster is free! 
Shod with fire, His flaming Word, 
By Love and Duty spurred, 
His Holy messengers shall go 
From tropic heat to polar snow 
To spread abroad the truth; 
His valiant youth 

Shall walk with Science 

In meet reliance 
Upon the dictate of His laws; 
Patience in reverence shall pause 
To press from fact to primal cause 

And humbly walk with God 
Where thunderbolts obey his nod — 

Where stars of night 
Whisper the secrets of His might. 

No sun shall dim 
Its light to those in search of Him; 

No planet roll 
In vain for them who read His scroll. 

The farthest bound 

Of thought profound 
Shall flame across the glowing page 
And thrill the bosom of the sage ! 



72 



"Religion, Science, eye to eye, 
Shall read the riddles of the sky, 
And Art with hallowed feet explore 
The myst'ries of earth's darkest shore. 
Dame Nature, veiled with beauty, shall reveal 
The fount of wisdom and the joys that heal — 
For Wooster is free!" 

So rise the strains of heavenly gratitude 
To Him who is the Giver of AH Good ; 
To God, the Father of All Righteousness, 
And Christ, our Savior, nailed upon the tree 
That we, defiled, might undefiled be 
And cured forever of our sins' distress. 

O join, ye people, all ye people join 

And chant a prayer unto our Lord divine — 

A prayer of praise and joyous jubilee 

To Hiir who gave that Wooster might be free! 



73 



THE SABLE AND GOLD 

(WOOSTER FLAG SONG) 

THOU flag we love all flags above, 
Five hundred fists thy colors hold; 
Five hundred breasts thy glory sing. 
Thou Sable and thou Gold! 

Chorus 

All hail the banner that we bear. 

Its colors free unfold! 
And fling upon the waving air 

The Sable and the Gold! 

Let Echo fill our towered hill 
And o'er our ivied turrets roll; 

Brave hearts abound with glorious sound- 
Five hundred as one soul ! 

Let Honor pale, let Valor fail, 
Let Love her sacred flame defy; 

Let Virtue hide her head in shame 
Ere we thy name deny! 

Let traitors doom themselves to gloom 
And cowards earn the frown of scorn; 

No craven clown shall bear Thee down. 
No dastard see Thee torn! 

No lusty foe shall ever know 
The valor that we dare uphold; 

For what can daunt the men who vaunt 
The Sable and the Gold! 



74 



FRUITION 

TO do, to dare, to sweep the living strings 
That, breathing, make up life's ^olian 
lyre, 
Re-echoing here on earth the heavenly choir 
Reverberant with thunder on their wings! 
To dare, to do, to search the hidden springs 
Where life evolves from matter like to fire 
Kindled to flame in bosoms that aspire — 
This, Ruddy Youth in hope exalted sings. 
And Age — shall Age dispel the golden dream, 

Or Hope give o'er and falter on the way? 

Wearied and faint, footsore, renounce the gleam 

The heyday paths of morning purpling o'er? 

Nay, rather, on and forward whence no more 

The dream shall dim, but burst Resplendent 

Day. 



75 



FOR LIFE 



NOT in warring creeds. 
Not in the clash of deeds. 
Not in the din of fight, 
Empanoplied with might. 
Comes Faith. 

Not in the stress of doubt 
Nor dialectic rout; 
Not in the hot acclaim 
Of Jahveh's potent name 
Comes Hope. 

Not in the pride of sense 
Nor Justice' recompense; 
Not in smiling ease 
Nor eager art to please 
Comes Love. 

But silently, like rain 
Upon the thirsting plain, 
Come Faith and Hope and Love 
The waiting heart to prove. 



iUN 10 1909 



